In current wireless communication systems, a mobile terminal enters an “idle” state or “dormant” mode when, after a communication link has been established with a peer entity, it currently has no data to send and it is receiving no incoming data from the peer entity with which it has been communicating. The peer entity can itself be a mobile terminal or a fixed wired terminal of any type. When the mobile terminal enters the idle state, the active radio link between the mobile and the wireless network is torn down but the network still maintains the ID of the call, the call attributes, and the call session between the peer entity and the mobile terminal continues to remain valid. While in the idle state, the peer entity is not aware that the radio link to the mobile terminal with which it has been communicating is no longer active. The peer entity can thus at any time restart communication, be it voice or data, by transmitting such voice or data. When the peer entity recommences communication, the mobile terminal needs to be awoken from its idle state and reestablish a radio link with the network. In order to “wake” the mobile terminal, the Radio Network Controller (RNC) buffers the incoming call/data from the peer entity and sends a Paging Announce request to the Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) in the paging group with which the mobile terminal was last associated, which information was conveyed to the network by the mobile before it entered the idle state. The BTSs within the paging group then broadcast a Paging message on a paging channel in order to “wake up” the idle mobile. When the idle mobile terminal, which is listening to the paging channel, “hears” its page, it wakes up and sends a Call Origination request to the network to reestablish the radio connection so that it can thereafter receive the incoming call/data.
The term “BTS” is being used herein to represent the device that terminates the radio interface with the mobile terminal. It is understood that in certain wireless technologies other terms are used, such as base station and cell. As will be used herein in the description and in the claims, the term BTS shall be understood to include any and all essentially equivalent devices that perform such similar functionalities. In a like manner, the term “RNC” is being used herein to represent the device that controls multiple BTSs and provides a common interface to the core network for the BTSs to which it is connected. It is understood that in certain wireless technologies other terms are used, such as gateway and Mobile Switching Center (MSC). In a co-located base station and RNC, these are also referred to as Base Station Routers (BSRs). As will be used herein in the description and in the claims, the term RNC shall be understood to include any and all essentially equivalent devices that perform such similar functionalities.
When the BTS has multiple mobile terminals to page, paging is initiated on a first-come-first-served basis. Disadvantageously, the contention for use of the paging channel on the radio link can have a deleterious affect on the ability to maintain the quality of service that a particular call or data flow should receive.